For people who are looking for someone to meet, there is a new way of dating which is called speed dating. This is how it works: men and women are rotated over a series of short dates (it usually last three to eight minutes). At the end of each interval, a bell will ring to signal the participants to move on to the next table. (Men are the ones who usually stand and move to another chair.) After the event, participants are required to submit to the organizers a list of people whom they are interested to give their contact information.
Many people choose speed dating over traditional kind because it saves time. It also makes it easier to decide if romance is possible or not. Speed dating is originally done by single Jewish who want to meet someone to marry.
In 2000, speed dating has become popular in the US because of the movies and televisions’ glamorous portrayal. Soon afterward, speed dating has been commercialized and several services began offering round-robin dating across the country.
Speed dating events typically require participants to register in advance and this comes with a payment cost. However, organizers may sometimes accept walk-ins when there is a huge gender gap between men and women. Some commercial services will require prospective daters to sign up in a waiting list to make sure that the ratio of men and women participants is balanced. On the other hand, some services would just aim for approximately matching numbers.
Event organizers offer niche events such as nights for gays and lesbians, older men with younger women (vice versa), graduates only, ethnic events, book lovers, religious affiliation and others. These various classifications will help organizers match couples easier.
One of the advantages of speed dating is that it allows participants to meet different people. It matches people in random ways, giving someone the opportunity to select his/her preference. Also, this may sometimes be a more convenient place for dating compared to bars since speed dating venues are often quiet enough to make viable interaction and intimate conversation.
Another great advantage of speed dating is that participants are grouped into compatible age ranges and profiles; this is time-efficient since it eliminates the need to introduce oneself. Also, time limitation will make certain that a participant will not be stuck with an impolite or dull person for a very long time. The structure of speed dating would also prevent participants from monopolizing each other’s time.
The good thing about speed dating is that participants can come alone without feeling out of place. Plus, it entails no pressure; unlike in the conventional type of dating when there is a pressure—especially on women’s side—to act interested towards their dates.
However, there are also disadvantages of speed dating and one of this is the time constraints. Some people might argue that this kind of dating only takes a short period time which means that participants would not have the opportunity to really know their dates.
